Auckland Transport rolls out screen dividers for bus drivers after stabbings

Auckland Transport (AT) is rolling out screen dividers on buses, separating drivers from passengers, after at least two stabbings on the city’s buses this year. Photo / Alex Burton

Auckland Transport is rolling out screen dividers on buses, separating drivers from passengers, after at least two stabbings on the city’s buses this year.

AT was trialling the perspex screens on a double-decker driven on several different routes and a CityLink bus in the central city.

“This has been in the works since January and we will use this trial to gather driver feedback and see what works and what doesn’t. Then we can look at rolling it out across more buses,” an AT spokeswoman said.

A driver was seriously injured when a 62-year-old man allegedly stabbed him two days ago.

Auckland Transport (AT) is rolling out screen dividers on buses, separating drivers from passengers after at least two stabbings on the city’s buses this year. Photo / NZME

Police and ambulance rushed to White Swan Rd, Mt Roskill, about 7.45pm Sunday and arrested a man.

Auckland Tramways Union president Gary Froggatt said the driver, aged between 40 and 50, got into an altercation with a passenger while driving.

“Unfortunately he left his bus seat and followed the passenger onto the footpath, where he was stabbed twice, and was taken to hospital,” Froggatt said.

He says the knife scraped the driver’s lungs.

“It wasn’t as serious as we originally thought, however, he was kept in hospital overnight,” Froggatt said.

A 21-year-old was arrested last month for a stabbing on Symonds St. The victim was taken to hospital and the alleged offender was to go before the Auckland District Court.

Last year, police launched a manhunt to find someone alleged to have stabbed another on a bus on Newmarket’s Broadway. The victim was taken to hospital in a serious condition.

And in May 2021, a man was seriously injured in a stabbing on a bus in Henderson. A youth was to appear in the Henderson Youth Court.

AT couldn’t provide any feedback it had received from drivers so far - and said it would roll out more dividers “as we can”.